Balkars

The Balkars are a Turkic ethnic group that resides in the Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia. There are 108,426 Balkars in Russia and 1,798 in Kazakhstan, and they adhere to Sunni Islam.

History
Balkars are genetically related to Chechens and Ingushes, and they were a part of Alania when the Turks culturally influenced the region. They adopted Sunni Islam as their religion along with the other peoples of the North Caucasus region, and they became a part of Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria region after their conquest of the Caucasus from the Muslim states. In 1944, the Soviet Union deported over 38,000 Balkars during World War II alongside the Chechens, moving them to Kazakhstan and other areas in Central Asia. The Balkars were later allowed to return, and today there are 108,426 Balkars in Russia (104,951 in Kabardino-Balkaria) and 1,798 still in Kazakhstan.